Release date: March 1, 2009 | Series: Music Pro Guides
Recording acoustic drums is one of the toughest challenges faced by every audio engineer. In The Drum Recording Handbook, mega-selling pro audio author Bobby Owsinski and in-demand recording engineer Dennis Moody reveal amazing secrets to getting outstanding drum track recordings every time, from every session. You'll learn: * How to tune drums for the studio the right way, every time * Microphone techniques for every kind of recording session, large or small * The right way to mixx your drum tracks for all kinds of music genres A 30-minute companion DVD demonstrates the techniques in the book with multi-camera shots and close-ups of the processes used to achieve amazing drum recordings every time, no matter what kind of studio you have, professional or home-based!
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A long-time music industry veteran, Bobby Owsinski started his career as a guitar and keyboard player, songwriter and arranger, eventually becoming an in-demand producer/engineer working not only with a variety of recording artists, but on commercials, television and motion pictures as well. Living in Los Angeles and always being on the cusp of the latest technology, he was one of the first to delve into surround sound music mixing, and has worked on over a hundred surround projects and DVD productions for a variety of superstar acts including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Iron Maiden, The Ramones, and Chicago among many others.
Combining his music and recording experience along with an easy to understand writing style, Bobby has become one of the best selling authors in the music recording industry with 16 books that are now staples in audio recording, music and music business programs in colleges around the world including the best selling "Mixing Engineer's Handbook," "The Recording Engineer's Handbook," "How to Make Your Band Sound Great," and "Music 3.0:A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age."
Bobby's keeps a busy schedule giving keynote addresses, master classes and workshops at various colleges around the world. A frequent moderator, panelist and program director for a variety of industry conferences, Bobby has served as the longtime producer of the annual Surround Music Awards, and is one of the creators and executive producers for the "Guitar Universe" and "Desert Island Music" television programs.
This is a good book if you don't know much about studio work and you want to get a good drum sound. It is however geared towards only one setup, the way that the author likes to mic drums, mostly for TV theme music or background music (all examples are from music to "family guy" and other TV shows). There is not much explanations on why things are done a certain way, it's mostly: "Do this, and it will sound good". There is very little about different distant mic techniques, such as Decca Tree or other famous classics. There is not much about variations, and how you can experiment to get different drum sounds for different music. The text is very big and you get the feeling that the whole book is written for a child, not a professional person who wants to know all the ins and outs about a subject.
If you want to know how to get John Bonhams drum sound, or some other characteristic drum sound, then look elsewhere.
If you want a quick reference to how to get a decent drum sound that works in most situations, than this is a pretty good place to start.
Recording drums is often the most challenging aspect of music recording for beginners, and Owsinski's book offers a great overview, including tuning the kit and a number of different mic setups and techniques. I disagree with the other review that says only one method is discussed. For example, the Glyn Johns method (how John Bonham's drums were recorded during Led Zeppelin sessions) is mentioned, though only briefly. That method only requires a few mics, and proper placement is really the key.
Overall, I think the book does a great job of explaining the basics, offering examples from multiple working pros, and also outlining ways people in a project studio can get good drum sounds on a budget (without a dozen expensive mics and pres). I wish a book like this had been available when I was in school learning about audio and recording engineering.
That said, if you only want to buy one book, I recommend The Recording Engineer's Handbook, also by Owsinski. An updated second edition of that book was recently released, and it provides a lot of similar advice on drum recording, though not as much detail as this book does.
